


O Brother

by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes)



Series: Holly's Round Seven H/C Bingo Card [3]
Category: Charmed (TV)
Genre: Bodyswap, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 23:47:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7382431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiasobi_writes/pseuds/hollyandvice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wyatt will give anything to keep his little brother safe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	O Brother

**Author's Note:**

> I have this headcanon is that when Chris reaches the age he was when he died at the end of S6, he gains all the memories of the darker timeline, which leads to all sorts of fallout in his relationship with Wyatt while Chris tries to reconcile what he knows of his Wyatt with the memory of the other Wyatt. This fic alludes to that headcanon.

Between one breath and the next, Chris goes from staring down a demon that may be his death to staring at his sister and six cousins, every single one of them staring at him anxiously.

"Did it work?" Melinda asks, anxious.

Chris blinks at her, trying to understand what had changed to get him home so easily. Then her words sink in. "Did what work?" he asks, and the second he hears his voice he knows that something's wrong. He ignores the relief in their eyes and away from the casting circle, catching sight of himself in the mirror. As he'd feared, it isn't his own familiar features that stare back at him. It's Wyatt's.

Chris rounds on Melinda, fear and hope warring in his chest. "What on earth were you thinking letting him swap our minds like that? You know a spell like this isn't easy to reverse, not to mention he's stuck down there with the demons now! What were you _thinking_?"

Melinda's answering gaze is sharp. "Probably the same thing you were thinking when you let the demon kidnap you instead of Wyatt in the first place."

"Because the demon was _after_ Wyatt, not me. Who knows what he'll do to Wyatt now that he has him?"

"That's why we don't have a second to lose," Melinda says, voice and gaze still sharp. "We need you to help us find him and rescue him. Wyatt trusts you, Chris," Melinda says, as though things haven't been completely different since his twenty-second birthday and all the memories of another timeline came flooding back. "It's time for you to do what you do best and trust him too."

Chris stares at her, angry and confused, but drawing on her determination. "Alright. Then this is what we do."

\----

By the time he's lifting his own bloody, beaten body to its feet and checking for signs of life, Chris is madder than he's probably ever been. Apparently Wyatt didn't stick to the plan once he swapped their minds, telling the demon that he had what he wanted instead of playing dumb.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Chris asks, pushing dark hair off his own forehead. He thinks this should feel weirder than it does. "Were you _trying_ to get yourself killed?"

"I was _trying_ ," Wyatt says sullenly, "to save my idiotic, self-sacrificing kid brother."

Chris freezes. "What?"

"Look," Wyatt says, trying to shove his weight off of Chris and trying to move toward Melinda instead. Melinda is having absolutely none of it, rolling her eyes and walking away toward the safe orb point they'd used to get down here. " _Look_ " Wyatt tries again, letting Chris take his weight when it becomes apparent no other help is forthcoming, "I get that we're not cool right now. I get that you've got some bullshit going on in your head and that things are a goddamn mess in there right now. I get that I can't help you through that. You and Mom have made that _abundantly_ clear." Chris flinches, but doesn't remark on the assertion.

He's not wrong.

"But you haven't told me any of it. You haven't explained or let me in or really even _talked_ to me since your birthday. So, yeah, maybe I was kind of hoping that this would be enough of a wake-up call to remind you that I'm still here, that I'm still your brother, and that I don't intend on leaving you, no matter what you might think. I'm here until the bitter end, Chris, even if it means that I'm stuck in your body with your powers for the rest of my life."

Chris doesn't answer for a long time, supporting the weight of his own body as he walks, trying to focus on the memories that he knows are his, and not the ones that belong to some other, long-dead version of himself. With a sigh, he turns to look at Wyatt. "I get it," he says quietly.

Wyatt goes completely still, staring up at him with confusion in his eyes. "What?"

"I get it. And I'm sorry I've left you in the dust with this. It wasn't easy to talk about, but I should have told you, and I should have been talking to you. You're my brother, and I owe you that much."

Wyatt makes a face, and Chris has the distant thought that that must be what he looks like whenever Wyatt says something particularly stupid. "You don't owe me anything, Chris. I only want you to let me in if you want to."

Chris nods. "Yeah, maybe that wasn't the right word. I want you to have a part in this and in my life. You're a part of it whether I like it or not, and it's time I just owned up to it. You're my _brother_ , and that's not nothing."

Wyatt's face splits into a grin, and as Chris nods back, he feels settled for the first time since his birthday. As the feeling anchors into his chest, he feels the same sucking sensation that he'd felt when Wyatt had first switched their bodies and suddenly he's staring back up at Wyatt's familiar face, pain almost sending him to his knees. But Wyatt keeps a strong hold on him, an apologetic look on the face that is once again his own. "Sorry. I didn't think we'd switch back so soon. Normally it takes--"

"Full reconciliation," Chris says with a nod and a roll of his eyes. "With how stubborn I've been lately, I can't say I'm surprised you thought it would take longer. Apparently knowing your brother is just as much of an idiot as you are is all it takes."

Wyatt laughs and takes as much of Chris' weight as he can as they hobble out to the safe orb point. "As long as we keep looking out for each other, I figure we'll be fine."

"Though I have to say," Chris says, something mischievous in his chest, "I'm gonna miss having your all-powerful magic under my control."

Wyatt's laugh echoes through the caverns of hell as they orb out.

**Author's Note:**

> Part of my second bingo for Round Seven of H/C Bingo, with a drive-by beta from the always lovely [Tina](http://idoltina.tumblr.com/).
> 
>  
> 
> [Come hang out with me on tumblr!!](http://hollyandvice.tumblr.com/)


End file.
